Neutral Bling Hotel – In My G4 Over Da Sea

Even at Neutral Bling Hotel’s best moments, there is not a single track that supersedes the original songs.

3.8/10

There has been a lot of news lately about the youtube video “The Innocence of Muslims” and the consequential “muslim rage” that has follow. Well, I am here to tell you that I may have stumbled across the album equivalent. Fortunately, fanatical indie music zealots are not prone to sudden outburst of violence. Praise be to Sonic Youth.

The album in question is In My G4 Over Da Sea is the work of Psycosis, a DJ who goes by moniker “Neutral Bling Hotel.” If you have not put it all together yet, the whole album is a series of mashups combining the tracks of Neutral Milk Hotel’s idyllic album, In the Aeroplane Over the Sea, with the likes of Kanye West, NAS, Jay-Z, and that guy who wants to teach you how to “dougie.” Whatever that means.

Now, I try not to be too dogmatic when it comes to my musical preferences, but I would be lying if I were to say that In the Aeroplane Over the Sea is not near and dear to my heart. However, I also love mashups and not just in a guilty pleasure sort of way. From the mega-mashups of Girl Talk or Later Babes to more conceptual albums like DJ Danger Mouse’s the Grey Album, I find well done mashups both interesting and enjoyable. I am not even opposed to mashups involving the Holy Grail of indie music – back when DJ Danger Mouse was known as Pelican City, he did a great remix of the Neutral Milk Hotel track “the Fool.” That track was fresh and original, whereas the efforts of Neutral Bling Hotel feel void of any such qualities.

Even at Neutral Bling Hotel’s best moment, such as the tracks “My 1st Airplane” or “Miami, 1981,” when he does more than simply overlay songs with matching beats per minutes, there is not a single track that supersedes the original songs. This only caters to the critics of mashups, who claim that these songs lack the artistry possessed by originals. If you have ever had the opportunity to see DJs such as Girl Talk perform, you understand that such criticism is severely limiting. Yet, when listening to an album like In My G4 Over Da Sea it is easy understand the source of the condemnation.

On a side note, someone needs to enlighten Psycosis that breast implants went out of fashion in the early nineties. Even when spoofing, they have no place on classic album covers. The sacrilege!